The saving grace is, a national sales tax may be unconstitutional. If there will be a tax on everything sold, what about land? If you sell property, does the national sales tax apply? If so, it could run into the same problems brought up in Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan & Trust Co., which ruled that income tax was unconstitutional, and was the impetus for the 16 Amendment to the Constitution. A national sales tax may require another amendment. And I don’t want another amendment; every time somebody touches the Constitution, they screw things up. Well, not every time, but in the last 100 years. We don’t need another 18th Amendment fiasco, for instance.

The thing most people know about Herman Cain, 9-9-9 plan, is just about the only thing I don’t like about his platform. I do want tax reform; I just don’t like the national sales tax portion of that plan.

I still support Cain for president. I hope he wins. But, when it comes time to implement 9-9-9, I hope he fails.

You see, I’ve been going on and on about how, no matter who the GOP nominee is, we need to support him. And some of you get your panties all in a wad about that.

“I’m not ever going to support Mitt Romney!”

“I won’t vote for Rick Perry!”

“If Sarah Palin isn’t the nominee, I’m not voting!”

“If Sarah Palin is the nominee, I’m not voting!”

“Ron Paul is nuts!”

Okay, that last one is okay. But still, nuts as he is, he’d a darn sight better than Barack Obama. But some of you are saying you won’t support this guy or that girl. Well, now Herman Cain sounds a lot like some of you people. Maybe he’s pandering to the panties-in-a-wad crowd.

I don’t care for that. I suspect Cain will backtrack, and soon. He’ll come up with some statement that sounds like some crafted statement talking about how we can disagree about important issues, but still have the same overriding goal: defeat Barack Obama and return competence to the White House.

But what should he say? Or, better, what should he have said to Wolf Blitzer’s question, “Could you support Rick Perry if he were the nominee?”

Against Obama? Of course. Hell, Wolf, I’d support you over Barack Obama.

I fully support Rick Perry for vice-president.

I would support Rick Perry if Zombie Reagan turned down the nomination.

Nine, nine, nine.

Not if he was the Democrat nominee. Has he switched back to being a Democrat?

That’s a stupid question, Wolf. What do you think I’m going to say? That I wouldn’t support Rick Perry? Do you think I’m stupid?

Actually, I didn’t get to ask Herman Cain any of the questions you asked. I lost my chance with the breakfast malfunction. And, when his talk to the breakfast group ran long, the staff cut the photo session short, so there was no chance after breakfast.

However…

Herman Cain did touch on some of the topics related to the questions some of you submitted, as you can see here:

Wife and I had the opportunity to travel to Atlanta for yesterday’s Herman Cain announcement. We attended the private breakfast beforehand, and had the chance to get close to the candidate.

Well, sort of.

You see, the agenda called for breakfast at 9:15, with Mr. Cain arriving at 9:45.

Only, it didn’t work out that way. He got there early.

I had just finished going through the buffet line and was back at the table when he entered the room. And that caused a sudden shift in everyone’s activities. Including mine.

I glanced to my left, saw his path was going to take him right by me, and decided to place the plate on the table, and let the rush of folks take me over.

The rush of folks came first.

I was jarred, and my plate of food fell. $2,500 worth of sausage biscuit and fruit hit the floor. Okay, I’m exaggerating about the cost. But, this being a campaign event, some people may have paid that much just to attend. So it’s possible, just not factual. Had it been one of them instead of me, then, yes, it would have been $2,500 worth of sausage biscuit and fruit.

But my food did fall. Or the plate did. And the food was on the place. And not all of it stayed on the plate. Some of it bounced off the plate and onto the floor.

So, I’m standing there in the aftermath of a crash of plate, table, chair, and floor, with the person I came to meet just a few feet away. He’s ahead of time, and this is a chance to spend some unscheduled time meeting and chatting with him. And maybe ask some questions.

Only, I’ve got food at and on my feet.

So, I grab some napkins from the table and squat. Meanwhile, there’s a crowd working there way past the table and me, trying to get close to Herman Cain. Legs, knees, hands all participating in the rush, and not in a helpful way, either.

I gather all the parts of biscuit and fruit — the parts of the plate of food that actually left the plate and took up residence on the floor — in napkins as best I could, then stood and placed the ex-breakfast on the table.

Here I am, standing with buttery, sausage-soaked biscuit and bits of melon on my hands. Wife hands me the hand sanitizer, and I start my Mr. Monk impersonation, rubbing the cleaner as fast and as thoroughly as I can.

I have missed my best opportunity to meet the man I came to see. But, not my last opportunity, as it turned out.

After I finally got all the food off the floor and my hands cleaned, I look for a place to dispose of the bits of the inedibles. I start scanning the room. First, straight ahead, to the podium, looking for Herman Cain, hoping to plan a chance to get up close.

The room was still abuzz, but I didn’t see Herman Cain anywhere. Had he made a quick appearance and then departed for some other pre-announcement work before coming back for his scheduled talk?

No, as it turns out, he was at his family’s table, talking with his children and grandchildren. I discovered that when I turned to my right and found myself eye to eye with Herman Cain.

He must have quickly glanced at my name tag — either that or he’s a huge fan of this blog; I’m thinking the former, but telling myself the latter — called me by name, and told me he was glad to seem me as he shook my hand.

I responded in kind, and glanced to the lady on my left. The Wife extended her hand and she and Herman Cain exchanged pleasantries. He introduced Gloria, his wife, and the proper greetings occurred.

He turned his focus to the family at their table, and we turned our focus back to our table.

So, while I did get to meet him, my breakfast malfunction messed up my best chance to actually chat and ask questions.

The sausage biscuit was good, though. The parts that didn’t fall on the floor.

Atlanta businessman Herman Cain announced his candidacy for President of the United States.

And we were there! And by we, I mean me. Frank J. is, like, a long way from Atlanta. Sarah K too. And Harvey. (Actually, I don’t know that they would have been there anyway.) But, since Atlanta isn’t all that far from me, I was there. And now, you were there, too!

If you had the chance to ask him a question, what would you ask? Serious questions would be okay, too.

I have sent a link to this post to the Cain campaign, so they can decide if they want to answer any of them. I’ll have my video camera, and record him answering your questions and play it back for you.

If he takes the questions.

He might not. Seriously, would you answer a bunch of questions from this group? If you wanted to be taken seriously as a presidential candidate, that is?

I didn’t think so.

But, Herman Cain is a smart man. He may be able to answer your questions and still remain a serious candidate.

Leave your questions in the comments. Really, what could go wrong?

UPDATE 20-May-2011 7:37 AM
For some of the questions received so far (climate change, Obamacare, golf) I have videos or columns by the candidate that address them, or excepts from print interviews that touch on them.

If I have the opportunity to ask questions, I will include them on the list anyway. But, I’ll have some answers based on prior statements, just in case.

UPDATE 22-May-2011 9:22 PM
Some of the questions were answered. Sort of.

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